British Airways, Their Website & the Idiot Who Wanted to Buy a Flight

[helicopter-redeye]

Generously, I rang BA (Exec Club/ Gold) today to tell them that their website had a tiny little problem (Gold card holder trying to book a long haul flight in Business not being able to log on) and this is a problem that has persisted since Monday of this week.

The problem is the site is looping continually back to a screen asking me to "enter the country where you live" in red letters. Enter the country and you are asked to "enter the country where you live" ad nausium.

The terribly helpful chap on the phone at BA said that it was my fault and my PC was set up wrong.

I guess Mr Thickies like me just dont deserve to fly BA.

h-r;)


(PS I guess the £500K of flight costs that I control each year abd currently go to BA don't either. Have a nice day, BA)

[bealine]

I fully sympathise cos Thickies like me are in the same boat!!!

Misguidedly, and through umpteen Trojan and Virus problems with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, I use either Mozilla Firefox or Opera as takes my fancy!!! I try, as far as possible, to avoid web-sites which make extensive use of Java Script!!!

Unfortunately, BA's web pages rely heavily on Java Script - the biggest, most wide-open, system of attack for Mr Hacker and his mates!!! Unless you use Internet Explorer with Microsoft NET and Microsoft Virtual Machine, BA's web site will not let you proceed!!!

I wish BA would sort it out for "Thickies Like Us!"!!! :ok:

[BOAC]

It does , as Bealine says, seem to be a problem with the javascript on the site.

Firefox declares 2 errors in BA's script

Error: Selector expected. Ruleset ignored due to bad selector.
Source File: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/globalgateway.jsp/global/public/en_
Line: 51

and

Error: Unknown property 'box-sizing'. Declaration dropped.
Source File: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/globalgateway.jsp/global/public/en_
Line: 0

I can confirm it works with IE, though.

Might be worth trying this URL in your browser as it seems to work with Firefox?

http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_us

[slim_slag]

Is anybody else having a problem actually getting on the site? Over half the time I cannot even get their homepage up. At those times I can get to their homepage (apart from the javascript) via anomymiser services, and so have this feeling it's something to do with my ISP, which is AOL in the UK. Is this a known problem?

[bealine]

Hi slim_slag - it's a very big problem that BA needs to address!!!

AOL have taken giant steps to prevent any sites using extensive Java Scripting from compromising YOUR security, or AOL's own systems. You will find some difficulty getting BA's web-site past AOL's filters!

[helicopter-redeye]

Gentlemen, some interesting technical solutions.

The real issue was (as always in aviation) ATTITUDE.

Instead of me becoming "Mr Thickie Blackadder Thickie", said BA person could have spun the situation on a sixpence and arranged to give me the details over the phone, mailed me the PDF timetable or event told me about the technical workarounds you are explaining now.

However, .....

h-r

(But they are the only airline in the world, right? There is no competition?...)

[slim_slag]

Thanks for that bealine, explains a lot. It has become an issue here when the missus has wanted to check in online and cannot do so. Pain really. And then how do they expect us to give them all our money when we cannot get on the site? One has to look at Ryanair, lol :)

[Dushan]

Along the same lines....
Tried to see schedules on BA Toronto London Dubrovnik. The site says DBV not a valid city. I figured OK try another airline. Went to Thomas Cook and it won't let me look up STARTING outside of UK, but when I asked for LGW - DBV, guess what it came up with. A BA direct flight LGW - DBV. I guess because YYZ - DBV would be YYX-LHR then LGW - DBV they consider that non viable. Fools....
This is what happens when inexperienced geeks are allowed to create software. They like to do the sexy, "because it can be done" stuff instead of doing what people want. The computer should not make the decisions for you it should only present you with the information you need to make the decision. It could make some suggestions and use your answers to "learn" for future cases, but it should never attempt to be smarter than the human. Try to explain this to the Twinkie/Pepsi laden kids that are allowed to "rule" the software industry.
+++ End Rant +++

Disclosure: I work in the IT industry and deal with this problem every day.

[Globaliser]

Is anybody else having a problem actually getting on the site? Over half the time I cannot even get their homepage up. At those times I can get to their homepage (apart from the javascript) via anomymiser services, and so have this feeling it's something to do with my ISP, which is AOL in the UK. Is this a known problem?It's definitely an AOL problem, judging by the comments of others who I've heard complaining about it. It's driving me up the wall, and AOL don't seem to have any interest in fixing it.

What workaround do you use?

[slim_slag]

Hi globaliser,

I'm not being flippant, but the workaround is not to price BA flights when we want to go somewhere. The missus flies BA a fair deal on business and that's done via her secretary at work, but she still doesn't like it when she cannot check in at home. Is there a workaround? I tried an anonymiser service but that failed on the javascript. It is quite annoying as BA do have some good deals long haul (and although we try our best, we still have over half a million miles in the household account to burn, lol )

[bealine]

It's definitely an AOL problem, judging by the comments of others who I've heard complaining about it. It's driving me up the wall, and AOL don't seem to have any interest in fixing it.

What workaround do you use?

Firstly, the problem is British Airways' not AOL!!! AOL is trying to solve nasty problems created by hackers who delight in using Java Script as their code! The workaround that might be possible is to open an AOL session, then once connection is established, use a standard Internet Explorer window for your BA connection.

However, for my part, I will NOT use Internet Explorer under any circumstances on this computer - which has now run non-stop for 12 months with no Viruses, Trojan Horses, Adware, Malware or other nasties which Java Script lets into your system, by-passing Anit-Virus software with ease!!!

[Globaliser]

I'm not being flippant, but the workaround is not to price BA flights when we want to go somewhere. ... Is there a workaround? I tried an anonymiser service but that failed on the javascript.Sorry, I misunderstood your post - I thought you had a working workaround via an anonymiser service.

AOL will sometimes let me in to www.britishairways.co.uk when I can't get on to www.ba.com or www.britishairways.com, but more recently I haven't been able to do that either. Even when I can, the SSL security certificates sometimes produce error messages because they're seen by the browser to have been issued to a different site (www.britishairways.com) from the one I'm on (www.britishairways.co.uk).

[Globaliser]

Firstly, the problem is British Airways' not AOL!!! AOL is trying to solve nasty problems created by hackers who delight in using Java Script as their code!I'm afraid this doesn't explain why sometimes I can get in via www.britishairways.co.uk when AOL is refusing a connection to www.britishairways.com. FWIW, the two URLs resolve to the same IP.The workaround that might be possible is to open an AOL session, then once connection is established, use a standard Internet Explorer window for your BA connection.I'm afraid this doesn't work, as it's normally the only way I use IE.However, for my part, I will NOT use Internet Explorer under any circumstances on this computer - which has now run non-stop for 12 months with no Viruses, Trojan Horses, Adware, Malware or other nasties which Java Script lets into your system, by-passing Anit-Virus software with ease!!!Unfortunately, the browser within the AOL window is also Internet Explorer - or at least it is if you have AOL 7 (and quite a few other versions of AOL, as I understand it).

[IB4138]

This is not the first thread to discuss the "wonders" of BA's website!

I don't know how much they spent on it but......it is not user friendly!

[bealine]

Unfortunately, the browser within the AOL window is also Internet Explorer - or at least it is if you have AOL 7 (and quite a few other versions of AOL, as I understand it).

Yes, indeed!

I dropped AOL when we got Broadband - only because AOL wouldn't allow us to operate a Network at that time - but I remember AOL 7 well! It did used to let me open other Browser windows though, IE6, Firefox and Opera, once I had the connection established and the AOL browser open.

However, I note from the Shareholders' Meeting a couple of days ago that BA will shortly roll out a newer, less user-hostile web-site!!!

[slim_slag]

Globaliser,

If you get yourself something like a wireless router and set that up to connect directly to AOL, you don't need all the AOL 7 junk that just gets in the way. You can just connect directly to 'The Net'. I've tried to 'ping' BA.com when it is down (to me), and it doesn't respond. If I ping using dnsstuff.com then ba.com is up. So, it's something to do with the network between me and ba.com, not javascript or the actual website itself.

I noticed this a lot when I was scraping ba.com to get fares to compare against ryanair, and I thought they had found me out and were blocking my IP address :) But nothing so exciting..

[Globaliser]

If you get yourself something like a wireless router and set that up to connect directly to AOL, you don't need all the AOL 7 junk that just gets in the way.Is this on broadband? Broadband, ah, broadband. One of those longer-term projects for things to sort out at home, that just gets put off because the office and a very good broadband connection are only 10 minutes' drive away ...

At home, I have to dial-up with AOL 7, but then just put it to one side (except for the e-mail, obviously) and then run a separate IE session outside it.

[backseatjock]

BA's customer service set up just gets worse IMHO and whether web site problems or others, it always seems to be the passenger's fault. The famous 'gold card' does little to help either. As I was reminded the just the other week, there are many thousands of gold card holders!

Similar experience whenever I have had problems with the web.......and, if you decide to proceed with a booking via the customer service agent beware as you will be charged a booking fee for not using the web site. It matters not whether the web site is working or not.

[pax britanica]

Backseat jock

While I share the view that BA customer service leaves alot to be desired it does at least exist compared to lo cos .

I have had problems with on line check in where it would loop me back to the start screen unless I used a different computer -no explanation from BA at all other than a view that it must be my fault. On the other hand its better than BT Yahoo customer service where a mild letter of complaint and request for help with a problem their help desk staff couldnt fix brought forth an abusive and angry phone call from 'a customer service supervisor'

So far I have always managed to evade any charges for completing a booking via an agent when the web site hasnt worked properly.
Overall its the normal 'school report ' verdict on BA 'could try harder. could do better' as the organisation mimicks a moderately clever but lazy child

PB

[backseatjock]

PAX - fair point and as I have not had a need to contact customer service at a low cost, I can't comment on their approach. However, at least one of those carriers has a near-legendary approach, so I can well imagine the harrowing experiences some must have had.

As a very regular traveller on BA, I am not one of those who knocks the airline at any opportunity. Perhaps not the best airline in the world, but BA does give most competitors a serious run for their money.

IMHO, the crews up front and in the cabin do an excellent job, with few exceptions.

My poor experience of the customer service team at Waterside does go beyond the web and is not for this thread. Suffice to say that many weeks on (and in one in one instance despite a supportive report from a CSD) I still await at least two standard computer-driven letters of response!

[Avman]

Last December I used the BA online check-in without problem. Since then every time I try and use the facility it apparently checks me in (so I discover when arriving at the airport check-in desk) but at the point where I ask to print the boarding pass it tells me "online check-in is not available"! So, it seems that the system does in fact check me in but fails to be able to issue me with a boarding pass. Consequently, I still have to go to the check-in desk at the airport!

[Globaliser]

The advice I usually give people is not to print the boarding pass, anyway. The reason is that once you have clicked the link to do that, it is no longer possible to go back into the online check-in system to change seat etc. The chance to do so is useful for those flights where people are cancelling their bookings during the 24 hour period, when you might pick up a better seat even after you've checked in - the system lets you go back in as many times as you like so long as you haven't already printed the boarding pass, so you keep this flexibility. If you simply go to one of the self-service check-in machines at the airport, you also get a last chance to see if there is a better seat still available before the machine prints you a boarding pass. At most BA stations, there are more self-service machines than people using them, so it doesn't delay you by more than about 60 seconds.

[ThreadBaron]

At the chance of being accused of thread drift, I have, not once, had any problem booking or checking in for any BA flight via there website. Over the last 10 years I have been flying once a month with them, even though they are not my 'favourite airline', they are the most timely with the best located departure airports for my needs.

I blame my fnigers!:ok:

[Jinkster]

i had exactly the same problem until....i turned zone alarm off :uhoh:

[Pax Vobiscum]

I trust you're joking, Jinkster. I can't see why ZA should cause problems with ba.com (it certainly doesn't for me), but if you need to, just add ba.com to your 'Trusted Zone'. :ok:

Surfing without a personal firewall is the Internet equivalent of walking around the office with a big "Kick me" sign stuck to your back.

[SLF3]

I have exactly the same problem with the BA site (cannot select a country), using either Firefox or IE this weekend, despite having over-ridden cookie handling for BA on both, and having accessed the BA website from the same computer in the past.

The BA site is an over complicated dog. On three separate occasions I have given up trying to buy tickets on the BA website and got them from Expedia instead. This weekend I used Travelocity.

One day BA will realise that customers vote with their feet.